56 - Maiden voyage of the Blazin Dragon

======= In the wake of the battle with the Dragon fang =======

First the party was faced with a crisis about what to do with the Dragon fang. If they went back into the bay they would have to deal with the dragon turtle possibly paying for two ships. But the other direction had very few safe harbors and the mistwall was notorious for being 200 miles of basalt cliffs with no safe harbors and ranging storms. And without the magic sails it would take weeks to sail that far.

Eventually it was decided that the party would change to the Dragon fang along with the dwarven ballista brigade and sail that right into the pirate harbor while the original Brazen prince sailed to nearby islands and took shelter there. It was a safer voyage than along the mistwall and with Grigg at the helm and most of the crew they could make it there safely. Meanwhile the party wanted the dragon fag as it was worth a lot of money to them and could let them potentially sneak into to pirate harbor.

The Dragonfang would take the magic sails and could use them to handle the storm tossed waters and that would allow Ortimay and Bonnie to sail with the inexpertise help of the party and the land loving dwarves. Celadon pointed out that he was a fine captain and could probably manage a decent sailor impression as did Eddie but in the end everyone needed to pitch in and learned a lot about sailing a ship over the next few days.

After some discussion it was decided to rename the Dragonfang the Brazen dragon but then in nod to Seraph's fire breathing the group dubbed it the Blazin Dragon. Seraph approved and was quite proud of the contribution she had mad in that fight and rummaged through Kylorin's potions multiple times looking for another firebreathing potion and Kylorin promised that if she ever found another that she would see to it that seraph would get first crack at it.

========= Sailing the Mistcliffs in the Blazin Dragon ===========

The Mistcliffs were a 1,000-foot-high wall of volcanic rock that stretched over 200 miles along Chult's west coast. There is no beach whatsoever, just immense, jagged rocks and plunging, crashing waves. If that isn't enough to keep most people away, the cliffs are home to large pteranodons, pterrafolk, and quetzalcoatluses.

The party saw groups of quetzalcoatluses investigating the ship but partly due to the ship speed they had no problem with any of the airborne expeditionary groups.

The second day a storm kicked up and Kyloring and the dwarves were laid up. Eddie got a friendly message from Selinda Shadowmantle in the Heart of Ubtau reminding him about their bargain. "hello grandson. Hope you have been enjoying use of that pearl. I just wanted to check you remember our deal. You call my name when you get to the dead Atropal and I will help you deal with that bothersome dead guy." Eddie replied somewhat awkwardly "Yep. Pearl has been great. Will remember. Send love and kisses to the relatives. Hope the weather is nice up in your sky fortress.."

The next day the group had to avoid some clouds of blue mist apparently blown out to sea by teh revious days storms but Lindals sharp eyes helped avoid them. Also the day following that the group found a waterlogged canoe floating out in the ocean clearly having washed form the River Tath or the Jaharka Bay recently. Inside there was a grizzly cargo a dead giant toad that had eaten a halfling that had tried to cut its way out and succeeded in killing the frog but not in escaping before being digested. Besides the canoe a handful of gold coins were recovered.

The following day was clear and finally brought the group to the entrance to the Bay. Fo the South over the mountains Lindal spotted a Red dragon flying patrol keeping a wary eye on the sea as well as the surrounding environs. Having reached the harbor the party realized that it would be a challenge to find the hidden cove given what they saw before them.

========= Jahaka Bay ========

The River Tath plunges down multiple waterfalls around the bay causing clouds of mist that perpetually obscure vision over distance on all but the windiest days. The outline of the coastal mountains can be seen from any distance in the bay, but finer details—something the size of a ship or smaller, for example—can't be discerned from more than 1 or 2 miles distant. Since the bay is about 20 miles wide and 40 miles deep, it's an excellent hiding spot for pirates. Any ship that wanders into the bay without knowing where to look is unlikely to stumble upon the pirates anchorage.

Not only that but the bay has numerous sunken ships and a ring of submerged rocks a quarter-mile from shore. The captain of any ship trying to sail though must make a DC 10 Intelligence check. If the check succeeds, the ship gets past the rocks safely. If it fails by 4 or less, the ship strikes a rock and springs a few leaks but suffers no serious damage and can continue seeking a passage through. If the check fails by 5 or more, a rock causes significant damage; the ship lists badly and its speed is halved until the hull is repaired. Striking a third rock causes the ship to sink. The pirates, of course, know where the rocks are and avoid them.

Eddie and Lindal call upon the wondrous figure of the serpentine owl and use the cover of darkness to scout the bay. Eddie using his owl's eyes and Lindal using his new goggles. They were unable to see the underwater dangers due to the darkness but managed to find the Emerald eye sitting right off shore in a cloud of mist so think it was hard to see through. Using it as a reference the duo discovered that the pirate harbor was hidden in a cave hidden in the mist. The ship at anchor was at attention with the captain barking orders to his crew to be alert that trouble was right in front of them if they just had the eyes to see it.

The duo decided to stay well away from the guard ship and moved to investigate the harbor when a ballista bolt from outside sight soared up and Nailed teh giant owl they were riding on and gravely wounded it. Eddie immediately cast invisibility and Lindal slid down the owls neck to feed it a healing potion and the two immediately set forth to rejoin the Blazin Dragon at the a preselected location on the far side of the bay.

========= Trouble brewing with a Bonnie Lass ========

Back on the ship they were having their own issues. Only a few people were up and about while others were resting up in anticipation of the coming morning's possible battle. But Kylorin did not notice how bonnie looked over her shoulder as she repacked her bag for the dozenth time to get everything just right after Seraph had dug through it checking if there were perhaps any other potions of fire breathing hidden away for a rainy day. When kylorin took Seraph upstairs to talk about possessions and how it is rude to dig through someone else's without asking Bonnie slipped form her own bunk and stealthed her way across the room and dug out the mysterious lead lined box she had seen Kylorin repacking.

Bonnie: "Lead lined? That means you are hiding something magical... Lets just take a look to see what is in there..."

She opened the lead case to see a glowing stone blinking with messages. "Oh a sending stone! I wonder who they are communicating with.."

Old woman's voice: (recorded weeks ago) "You know it is rude to poke your nose in other people's business"

Bonnie: (accidentally transmitting a response) : I am sorry I will put it back immediately. I was just curious...

Somewhere many miles away. An old hag with coins for eyes and gas tailing form her nostrils notices her sending stone blink and yells "sister's to me I have a live one!" As she dives spiritually into the stone followed by her sisters mere seconds later. Emerging from the stone even as Bonnie was putting it back into the box the first sister says "Oh no I can't have you doing that" and snaps Bonnies soul out of her body with a flick of her wrist. Her hands full she tries to stuff her into her bag while her sisters pace around the room sizing up various sleeping forms. "Oh a priestess! Come here sisters! look a soul so pure and yet tainted slightly. We could get so much for this one! But her sisters shrill bark brings her attention to the other side of the room. "Oh you can have the priestess, I see here a pair of princess I wish to claim myself. The first sister was much put out because she only had a halfling with a deeply shadowed soul but her sisters had a bounty to chose from. "Come come, we can all share. Let's take as many as we can hold back and then share. If I hadn't called you wouldn't have had anything at all!"

Peg leg nods eagerly wanting to share in the princes since she has a keen eyes and saw the tracery of a second soul on the handsome prince's skin. Yeas yes we should all share in this bounty." We can only hold three but I think if we go back and forth a few times we might ferry several of these souls. Now quickly. Two of you grab that one with the tattoos he will be slippery so you need to hold him tight. I will grab the priestess as well as this halfling. One is pure and the other s sullied and I might be able to carry both in a single bag if we move quickly enough.

Moments later as the hags dart away with Celadon, Hew, Bonnie, and Undril in tow Freya wakes up and goes to use the head and notices Bonnie collapsed on the floor with the sending stone in her hand. "Oh this can't be good" Hey Celadon, wake up and help me with this... Celadon? Hew? Oh crap." Freya hastily pries the stone from Bonnie's fingers and stuffs it back in the lead box and goes upstairs to inform Kylorin of the problem she just discovered and that none of Bonnie, Hew, Undril, or Celedon can be woken up.

Kylorin comes down and investigates but there is no current fiend presence the movement of the ship and the running water having erased all signs rather quickly. She then tries casting protection from evil on Undril and Undril immediately wakes up. "Oh dear it was horible I was grabbed by this aweful old woman with coins for eyes and she and her sisters were fighting over Celadon's souls. I think if they had been paying attention to me I never could have come back.

Kylorin then tries protection on the others but while Hew briefly wakes up he fight the protection spell saying "No I think we were about to escape I need to go back and help them" Before collapsing once more. Left with no other options the party waits for their friend's to wake only to have Eddie and Lindal come back then with tales of being almost shot out of the sky.

========== Emerald Eye ===========

Turns out Ortimay had heard rumors that Captain Zaroum Al-Saryak of teh Emerald Eye had teh ability to see jewelry from quite a ways away leading him to always rob the riches ships and find all the treasures no mater how cleverly hidden it was. At this Lindal cursed and Eddie asked, "And why haven't you told us this before now?" Ortimay just responded with a simple, "Well you had never asked" and then told him what he could of the two remaining captains and their crew.

Captain Zaroum Al-Saryak styles himself a lost Calishite prince and his ship the Emerald eye is a truly gaudy ship. Painted gold and encrusted with cheap jewelry and fake gems it is ostentatious to the point of absurdity. It is made to look like a Rich Calishite's palace and instead of the traditional skull and crossbones his ship has the sickle moon of the Calishite states. He has a fake eye a magical ruby that is reputed to see jewelry wherever it may lie. His first mate is a Eunich named Voltan who is fiercely loyal to his charge.

Meanwhile Captain Laskilar is a flamboyant, rakish pirate who used to parade around in Port Nyanzaru before he became too infamous to escape authorities attention. It is his ship the stirge that is known for its barbed ram that allows it to impale enemy ships. His first mate is reputed to be a battle scarred ex gladiator expelled from Port Nyanzaru who was expelled form the city for throwing fights after betting on his own matches.

The party since they are in the Dragon fang decide to play up the damage to the ship and limp back to harbor hoping that will get them in close to the other ships. Eddie casts an illusion of the Dryad and assumes the distinctive half boar form of Elok Jaharwon. But the rush of a damaged ship soon becomes reality as they ram the ship into the unsean rocks of the bay. The ship listing heavily and needing repair they lim to ward the harbor Eddie pretends to be screaming at the cowed dryad "How many times have we sailed this course and you screw up today of all days! On teh day we are rich with ortimay's riches you seek to sink my boat through negligence!"

The Emerald Eye comes out to hail the party's ship and a quick sideways gust of wind thanks ot the magical sails lets their ship unexpectedly drift into collusion course even as Eddie/Jaharwon screams "Ram me ship while we are taking water? You will regret this Zaroum! Taste my necklace of missiles fresh off Ortimay's ship. *Hurls a fireball drpping half the sailors on the stern of the Emerald Eye even as the dwarves jump up and shoot both Balista into Zaroum wounding him grieviously. Lindal slips into the waters and climbs up the back of the Eye coming out fo the water right behind the Captian Zaroum and slits his throat and grabs his Mystical eye and slipback overboard. Meanwhile Freya and Kylorin have engaged teh first mate at the front of the ship and kylorin keeps knocking him down and Freya spins like a top hitting him several times in a row whittling him down with such ferocity that the other crew members are taken back and drop their weapons once Captian Elok calls out "Ok Lads and Lasses you are part of my crew now. No more pampered princeling, ye be part of my crew and I promise you wont have a boaring day the rest of your lives.

(Eddie did not know but Elok Jaharwon had been some what of a populist rabble rouser and many of the crew of teh emerald eye were eager to serve under "unkillable" Elok Jaharwon.). But thanks to that he is able to get about 13 of the crew to swear loyaty to him and to take teh Eye back into its proper place while the DragonFang goes in for repairs.

Inspiration

  • Eddie - Using Captain Elok Jaharwon impression to take the Emerald Eye by surprise and to gain the crew to man it.

  • Lindal - Obsession with an eye for an eye

Experience (challenge based) 750 Individual => 10631 cumulative,

Allies

    • Ortimay, Grigg, Bonnie and several deck hands

    • Seraph

    • Undril Silvertusk - in coma

    • Hew Hackenstone - in coma

    • Musharib

    • 6 dwarven siege experts

Treasure

  • Found during voyage

    • Canoe

    • 10 gp from partially digested halfling

  • Looted from the Emerald eye :

    • 10 gp 30 sp

    • 3 pearl earrings 10 gp each

    • Silk Jacket with glittering gems sewn into it (750 gp)

    • Ornate Scimitar with gemstones embedded in the hilt (1,250 gp)

    • Potion of fire breath

    • Potion of healing

    • Quill of sending - once a day write messages the other quill will replicate to another paired quil lin fort Belluarian

    • Ruby Eye - requires replacing real eye but lets you see the nearest collection of jem stones

    • Emerald Eye ostentatious ship

    • 8 pirates, 2 thugs, 3 natives (enough crew to pilot the Eye - Hurrah)